Complications
by Tycho
Summary: Voyager has been delayed at a critical point.


Title: Complications

Author: Ben Mason

Contact: tychocelchu@mpx.com.au

Series: Voy

Part: 1/1

Rating: PG

Code: J/C

Date originally posted: I honestly can't remember! Sept? Oct?

Summary: Voyager has been delayed at a critical point.

Archive: You betcha.

Disclaimer: They own em, we're just playing with em.

Author's Note: This was the first idea I had rattling around in the vacuum I call a mind but it took me a while to figure out how to write it. Enjoy!

* * * *

Acting Captain Tuvok of Vulcan sat in the command chair on the bridge of the USS Voyager, reviewing the recent battle in his mind and mentally preparing his report. Some would question this action. He was captain. All he had to do was summarise the senior staffs reports to him and add it to the official logs to be downloaded to Starfleet HQ. The fact that HQ was decades of travel away was irrelevant. Procedure and protocol must be followed.

The reason he was preparing to write a detailed report on the battle was because he would shortly be resuming his former post as Tactical/Security Officer. Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay were going to be retrieved by their faithful and, as he was certain she would elaborate, reckless crew. If he were human he would be elated. He was not. He was Vulcan.

The Intrepid class vessel suddenly shuddered and began to slow down. Something was wrong. "Helm: Report"

The hands of Lt Tom Paris were dancing over the controls of his workstation. His usual insolent grin had been replaced by a worried frown. "Unknown sir," Tuvok was such a stickler for protocol. But still, perhaps it would rub off a little and he wouldn't offend the Captain as much when she returned to her chair.

"The warp field appears to be destabilising, sir. I can't get any details as yet." Ensign Harry Kim was worried. It was his job to maintain the sensory integrity of the ship and be instantly aware of anything happening that could endanger her. He hoped the captain would not be too angry with him. He was too uncertain in his postion as the youngest member of the Senior Staff to take failure well. If he failed badly enough he would lose his post, and then there would be nothing for him here in the Delta Quad. He would be alone.

Tuvok absorbed all this information in seconds and processed a logical conclusion. Something was wrong the complex warp drive. "Bridge to Engineering. Report."

"Sorry Commander, I'm too busy trying keep us alive right now. we'll be dropping out of warp shrotly I'll explain everything in one hour. Torres out."

Tuvok made the Vulcan equivalent of a frown. The chief engineer had every right to delay explanation if she believed it was warranted in the interests of the ship's safety. But it had seemed she had been abrupt. Not enough to require discipinary action but enough to be noticed by him.

"She gets so testy when she's frustrated, doesn't she Commander? I wonder if the women on Qo'nos do the same?"

Tuvok considered this briefly and concluded that, for once, the knave seated in front of him was indeed correct. Tuvok also perceived the underlying reason for Tom's quick response to Torres' - loyalty to a crewmate and a caring compassion - and adjusted his opinion of the pilot. Upwards. "Mild temperament is not a common trait among klingons Mr Paris. Perhaps it would be wise of you to remember this fact."

Tom returned his full attention to the controls. *Hope you thank me for this later Be'lanna, I just saved your ass.* He was tempted to grin. *And such a nice ass it is too!*

* * * *

Two hours later Be'lanna Torres marched into the briefing room and flopped into her chair. She was exhausted. Too much to do and not enough energy to do it with.She slid her report PADD across the table to Tuvok who merely waited for the verbal report he calculated he would get regardless of any written report.

"It's the anti-matter. As far as we can determine, when we detonated that container of it back there, it sent out a subspace ripple. Ordinarily this wouldn't affect us in any way but combined with the torpedo and the unique properties of the Vidiian shielding on their ships it created a phase variance in our entire supply of anti-matter. It's going to take about a month to reverse the process and afterwards I recommend we don't exceed warp 4 for a week so week can monitor it."

Harry spoke up. "That can't be the entire problem. Similar problems have happened on other ships from time to time. It usually only takes about an hour to reverse it."

Be'lanna couldn't help but smile at her young friend's enthusiasm and growing confidence. "The difficulty is that the variance is...varied. There are about ten different variances for every gram of anti-matter we have. If it was just a matter of altering each variance we could be done inside a week, but every time one molecule is returned to normal, the surrounding molecules have some sort of effect on it and change it to another variance altogether. So, we are going to have to create the shielded tanks - one to store the contaminated anti-matter, one to do the alteration and one to store the reconditioned stuff in. Add to that all the small repairs from the battle and you are looking at least a month if nothing goes wrong."

Tuvok nodded and gave her permission to begin the design and construction of the tanks. It was encouraging to know that she was able to come up with a sound logical solution to such a difficult problem. "Perhaps the science division can divise a way to determine the exact variance more efficiently. Request their assistance. The doctor is working on the minor modifications required to use the cure on humans and should have a solution at the end of the week. My congratulations to you all on a successful..." he raised an eyebrow "Mutiny." And with this remark he stood ending the meeting.

* * * *

Kathryn Janeway lay was irritated. He had done it again. AGAIN! Seeing that her needs were met, often at the expense of his own. This time she had ended up telling him about her favourite thingsin her room as a child, one of which had been a hanging mirror surrounded by a beautifully hand-carved wooden frame. The next day had been special for him, one he called a kind of thanksgiving, and he asked for her to let him be alone in the woods for the day.

And she had. She had only started down the path he took three times and each time her iron will had won out and she had returned to the cabin. It had been on that final return that she had seen it hanging on the wall above her dresser, she had looked at it for a long time, eyes narrowed, then sensing him she turned to find him leaning against the doorway, arms crossed, eyes sparkling in amusement...and something else. Something she now found familiar and reassuring. And she knew she wouldn't win this argument. But the impossible had never stopped Kathryn Janeway before.

After that the evening had gotten very...interesting. Emotions had been stretched to the limits, as they always were when they argued over such things. But in the end he had won. She frowned bringing her mind back to the present. That was becoming a disgustingly common occurence. She was supposed to win the arguements, didn't this stubborn male know anything?

She rolled indolently out of the bed, contemplating revenge. But as soon as her feet hit the floor, all thoughts of revenge (or anything else) fled and she followed them to the bathroom to reaquaint herself with dinner.

When she finished she staggered back to look at her new mirror and study her appearance, assure herself that she was still in one piece. As she did so her fingers traced the pattern in the mirror. *I wonder what Tuvok would say if he saw this* she wondered, not for the first time. She frowned and shook her head, clearig the remaining nausea. It didn't really matter, Voyager was lightyears away from here and out of their lives, but still she regretted.

/Crackle/

She started. *Where did that come from? It almost sounded like*

/Crackle....way....zzzzt..nder..crackle....kotay/

She rushed over to the shelf that held the few items they had put away, to separate their old lives from their new life. Kathryn reached out, hesitantly, for the odd shaped piece of metal and pulled it back as it came to life again, stating it's intentions clearly.

"Voyager to Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay, please respond." Tuvok's voice sounded out strongly in the small cabin.

She wrestled with herself for a second but finally curiosity won out. She hadn't thought anything could possibly convince him to go against her orders. "Janeway here Tuvok. What do you think you are doing?"

"Sitting on the bridge attempting to contact you Captain."

*No shit Sherlock* "You appear to have disobeyed my orders Mr Tuvok, please explain yourself or you will have an official reprimand added to your file.

"It appears Captain, I have been the victim of a ship wide insurrection. I had no choice from a tactical point of view but to aid in the crew's efforts to obtain a cure for yourself and the commander." A pause. "We, were successful."

* * * *

Chakotay was standing at his workbench, contemplating what next to build for her. The boat would have to wait until after the sap stopped running in the trees so he could harvest enough lumber. *Perhaps a rocking chair?* He heard her enter. This was unusual, she never entered his workshop, having deemed it his domain. Chakotay believed she actually didn't want to spoil the surprise of the next project, preferring to see the finished product. He turned, preparing to say something amusing, but when he saw her, he stopped and his face softened. "What's wrong?"

"I think we'd better make ourselves presentable, Chakotay, we are going to have visitors."

He was puzzled until he realised what she was holding in the palm of her hand. A commbadge.

* * * *

The seven members of the away team materialised in front of the tomato patch and looked around in wonder at the home their commanding officers had made for themselves. Tuvok was in the fore with Tom at his right shoulder and Be'lanna at his left. Harry Kim stood next to his best friend and marveled at all that two of the most important people in his life had achieved in such a short time. Ensign Samantha Wildman sat her giggling daughter on the grass and began to help Kes in setting up the equipment they would need to effect the cure, keeping one eye on her rapidly maturing child, who was rapidly learning about mobility.

The door to the building opened and two people emerged. The man was dressed in simple brown slacks and a lightly patterned tan shirt. His indian heritage was immediately apparant and emphasised by the tatto over his left brow. Planet life appeared to agree with him.

If outdoor living agreed with Chakotay then it was obvious that it had done wonders for their Captain. She appeared almost regal in the simple emerald green summer dress she wore, a beautifully decorated leather belt girding her slim waist. If eyes followed upwards the healthy tan on her face and arms indicated just how much activity she had been up to since been left on the planet, and her hair shone red-gold in the sunshine. Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears at seeing familiar faces, and one escaped to follow a course down the outside of her right cheek, starting it's journey just below the mirror image of his tattoo.

Kathryn studied them all, reaffirming their faces in her memory, never to be forgotton. She smiled, and turned her eyes away slightly, she would never forget what a shocked Vulcan looked like. The silence was becoming a little awkward, so she released her husband's arm and walked over to where the young girl-child was attempting to make her escape and picked her up.

Kes was the first to recover, and offered congratulations in her soft voice. She had sensed the strong bond between them as soon as the door had opened. The others soon followed suit and before long they were all (excepting Tuvok) grinning like mad loons. Kathryn smiled and turned to her love. "Well Chakotay, it appears we have made an impression on our friends."Without taking her eyes off her husband she addressed the woman next to her "Well Sam, how much longer do you think it'll be before Naomi here is able to take on some duties?"

"That depends on the duties Captain" Samantha had a few suspicions at this point.

Then she grinned broader, the time for her revenge had come. "Baby sitting."

The other woman smiled at her superior. "Well she is maturing faster than human children, but I think it'll be .."

It was at this point that Chakotay, Commander and XO of the USS Voyager landed on his backside in the grass with a loud thud as he realised the implications of this conversation, an awed expression on his face. Then he jumped as another body joined him on the low earth.

It appeared that Lt Commander Tuvok had had just too many shocks for one day.

End


End file.
